Birth And Death
by KittyKTheAuthoress
Summary: To me, birth and death have always been seemingly impossible, unspeakable things. But now, I am surrounded by darkness as I sink into oblivion. I thought that I had left behind my mortality when I died that first time. Now that I am dying, I do not have much time. Heed my words and learn from my mistakes. Listen to my story and understand.
1. The Beginning

To me, birth and death have always been seemingly impossible, unspeakable things. But now, I am surrounded by darkness as I sink into oblivion. How did this happen? One minute I was a simple villager, the next, a queen. How am I choking, bleeding, dying? How is the queen of the Three Worlds being defeated by something as simple as death?

I thought that I had left behind my mortality when I died that first time. Now that I am dying, I do not have much time. Heed my words and learn from my mistakes. Listen to my story and understand. I am sinking faster into oblivion as we speak, so do not dally.

* * *

The sun began to rise far above the earth, bringing sunlight to every nook and cranny down below. Meanwhile, in a village far below, a miracle was born as the sun was rising.

"One more push, Arannia, one more push. The baby's nearly here, you can even see most of its body now. You can do it, Arannia, it's just one more push." Those were the words that escaped the lips of the village midwife, Terra, right before a child was born and a woman died.

One more push indeed did the trick, heaving a child into the world of the living. Sadly, this move also catapulted the woman named Arannia into the world of the dead. A few frantic shrieks of Arannia's husband, Coryn, were heard, but then all was silent.

A shrill cry rose up into the day, confirming the fact that the newborn was a girl. Terra, the midwife, rested her callused hand on Coryn's shoulders, looking down on the newly born and the newly dead. Coryn's shoulders shook with his grief as sobs wracked his body.

"How could this happen?" Coryn choked out, looking at Terra helplessly. Terra merely shook her head.

"Our current medicine is not advanced enough to cure death in childbirth," the woman explained quietly.

"But she was a strong woman, not a weakling! How could Arannia die from something so natural?" Coryn argued, ignoring the squirming, bloody heap his newborn daughter was currently spending her first few moments of life in.

Terra sighed and picked up the newborn girl, obviously being the only one to remember her existence. She rocked the baby back and forth, cooing gently to the child.

"What will you name her?" Terra inquired gently. Coryn shook his head grievingly.

"Arannia had had the perfect name for her, she said. She said that she was going to be fine, but she wasn't fine!" Terra raised an eyebrow and held the newborn closer to the warmth of the folds of her robes. The stricken man continued his rant.

"Arannia was everything to me. She was my moon, my sun. How can I enjoy the naming of our daughter if she is not here to enjoy it with me?" Coryn halted himself and stared at the child, who had begun to cry. Terra pulled the girl closer to her in a matronly way, quieting down the child immediately.

"Even if Arannia is gone, won't you keep her daughter?" She asked. Coryn merely shook his head.

"You can keep it," he spat venomously.

"I have no use for the- THING who's life cost Arannia's own. Arannia, my poor sweet Arannia..." The stricken man then picked up his dead wife's body and stalked out of the door, carrying her towards his wagon. The door slammed shut, causing the baby to squeal and the midwife to frown.

"I shall name you Dawn, if I am to keep you as my own," Terra spoke to the baby girl. The newly named Dawn kicked her tiny legs and flailed her chubby arms about, causing the midwife to smile sadly.

"If only your mother had not died," Terra ventured.

"Perhaps then, you would not be considered an orphan." The midwife suddenly straightened up, her back stiffening.

"If you are an orphan from birth, you must be truly destined for greatness. I will teach you everything I know, Dawn, and I will hope for the best. After all, the god of our dimension, the Overworld, was an orphan from birth."

Terra then swept out of her examination room and hurried to the powder room to wash up the child. Her light gray robes spun out behind her as she dramatically exited the room with a child in her arms and a million questions swirling inside her head.

Back in the examination room, perched atop the bloody sheets of the birthing mat, the spirit of Arannia sighed and followed Terra and her daughter through the doorway. Little did the spirit know, her premature death was a single puzzle piece amongst the jumbled bits of Dawn's life.


	2. Fifteen Years Later

Fifteen years passed as the small village grew to become a town, finally earning the title 'La Monte.' It was translated as 'The Mountain,' due to the fact that it was perched precariously on the edge of a mountain.

Those fifteen years had also affected the residents of La Monte. Being a frail child at birth, Dawn was small for her age of fifteen. Black hair draped itself naturally over her left eye, which nobody knew the color of, while her right eye sparkled midnight blue.

Her skin was pale, nearly the color of moonlight. Dawn and Terra didn't mind it, but just about every other resident of La Monte feared her and considered Dawn as a cursed demon cast out from the Nether to punish the Overlands people.

Being small and shy, the only times that Dawn would venture outside were to draw water from the well in front of Terra's clinic. For the rest of her time, Dawn would linger inside the physician's home, learning all she could about medicine from both Terra and Terra's massive collection of books.

One day, Dawn decided to go explore the town. Not understanding just how much the other residents despised her, she ventured out in broad daylight to the trading post, money in hand. She puffed up her chest and tried to look important.

"Hello, sir," Dawn said hesitantly to the trader, tapping him on the shoulder from behind.

"Do you have any books up for sale?" The reaction elicited from the trader was hilarious in retrospect.

"Oh, Notch almighty!" The humble trader swore in surprise, whipping around on one heel.

"Who the bloody Nether are you?" The very confused trader asked bewilderedly, lifting an eyebrow at the strange-looking girl standing behind him. She was obviously nothing like the rest of the town, seeing as she wanted a book.

"The bloody rest of your town is extremely illiterate, girl," the trader frowned.

"What be possessing you to ask for one of them contraptions?" He asked, staring at the fifteen year old who was the size of a nine year old. Dawn shrugged.

"I just like to read, that's all," she replied. The trader, whose name was of no importance, stared at the girl who looked and acted exactly like she was from another town. One that encouraged reading, that is.

"Aye, I've got one." The bewildered trader said finally, handing Dawn a thick black book labeled 'The Three Worlds.' Dawn hesitated, not taking the book.

"How much?" She asked warily, protectively patting her pockets.

"I'd give it to ya for free, little missy, but policy says otherwise. How's this? I'll cut you a deal. Five gold ingots." The trader grinned. Dawn smiled shyly at the trader. He was robbing her, that was true, but she wanted that book.

"Deal," Dawn said finally, handing the trader her money. He grinned at her and rested the book in her small, pale hands.

"Enjoy," he smiled, hopping up onto his horse. He did not leave until the strange girl left the square, her nose stuffed inside the book already.


	3. Burning

Dawn flipped through the book as she wandered back down the gravel path to Terra's clinic. She could already tell that this was going to be a captivating book to read. Scanning the contents, Dawn smiled at chapter 22, the chapter titled 'Villagers.'

Turning to page 158, the page where chapter 22 began, Dawn began to read as she walked down the road.

"NPC villages are found in desert, savanna, and plains biomes. The residents of these villages were originally called 'Testificates' and have the ability to trade with the player. The most well-known NPC village is called 'La Monte' and is famous for its unique, even said to be legendary, physician, Terra Goodwish."

"Mum?" Dawn murmured, confused. She sprinted home from there, ignoring the growing hunger roiling in her belly.

She burst through the wooden door, clutching the book in her right hand tightly.

"Mum?" Dawn called tentatively, searching through the rooms of the cobble-walled building.

"I'm in here, Dawn," was the faint reply from the library.

Dawn wandered down the hall and entered through the double doors of the library. She smiled at the familiar sight of the symmetrical layout of the room.

Large bookshelves created out of oak wood and assorted medical books lined the walls and part of the ceiling. Multiple ladders were scattered around the room, reaching up to the skylight.

"Dawn, can you come over here for a minute?" Terra called, waving from the far wall.

"Coming, Mum!" Dawn replied, running over to the desk that the villager was seated at.

Terra smiled sadly and rummaged in a nearby chest, pulling out a dark blue backpack with too many pockets to count, and handed it to Dawn.

It had a black belt inside of it, as she discovered when she unzipped it. The belt had nine pockets on it, and each one had a small silver border hand-embroidered on it

"Mum?" Dawn said finally, confused, "what are all of the pockets for? I don't even own close to that many items."

While the villager hesitated, Dawn swung her backpack over her shoulder and put on her belt, smiling at how well they went with her outfit.

Terra avoided answering Dawn's question, instead replying with an unrelated answer. "Oh, Dawn, I need to tell you something. The thing is- I, I'm not actually your mother."

The fifteen year old girl froze. The book in her hand clattered to the polished wood plank floor. Black dots danced on the edges of Dawn's vision and she crumpled to the floor, her midnight black hair unceremoniously draped across her face.

Terra sighed and attempted to drag the unconscious girl out of the door to her room, but stopped in the middle of her action.

The physician's normally kind green eyes turned blindingly white, glowing in the rapidly growing darkness.

The spirit that had taken over the normally kind villager cackled madly, setting itself and its borrowed body on fire. The house began to burn, razing the entire beautiful library and everything else in the village, and left nothing behind but ashes, crumbling cobblestone skeletons of houses, and the unconscious body of Dawn.


	4. Punch That Tree

Dawn sat up in the rubble, holding a trembling hand to her pale forehead. She looked around in anguish at the charred remains of the village. The cobblestone skeletons of the smoldering houses looked almost ghostly in the mist.

"Oww," she murmured, staring at the blood that had come off of her forehead onto the tips of her fingers.

Dawn rose unsteadily, pushing a shattered glass pane off of her chest. The teenager girl clutched the book, the one item left to her name, close to her chest. She was unsure why she was the only one in the village who survived the fire, but was still very shaken by the last thing she had seen before she fell unconscious.

"Those eyes..." Dawn remembered aloud, thinking of the glowing white eyes that had replaced Terra's own.

Dawn hurried away from the village, sprinting as fast as she could without tripping. When she finally reached the mighty gates of La Monte, she was out of breath and desperate for food. Dawn opened her copy of 'The Three Worlds' and began to read a random page, attempting to distract herself from her growling stomach.

"The player," Dawn read aloud, "is a single entity whom can interact with every block, every mob, and every world. They, however, cannot speak the same language as the mobs unless they are either very talented or very insane."

Dawn gulped and kept reading.

"In the player's possession," Dawn continued, "there is always a toolbelt of sorts, that has nine slots for easy access of tools. Also, there is always a backpack that has room for 27 different items."

She frowned, focusing, as she unzipped her backpack, revealing 27 empty slots exactly, in three simple rows of nine. Dawn noticed the same sort of pattern in the toolbelt as well, minus the fact that she had a thick book with a leather cover in the belt and nothing else whatsoever in her backpack.

"The player," Dawn turned a page, "has the ability to do anything (within reason), minus riding any mob other than pigs and horses, flying (unless the said player is a Creative mode user, a revered ability that is rarer than Emeralds), and surviving the Void itself, a dangerous and dark layer underneath the bedrock level of the Overworld, the Nether, and the End. Other than that, the player is able to build anything, go anywhere, and do anything. The player is more powerful than all mobs. It can survive many things that mobs cannot, such as raging fires. The player is one of the most powerful entities in the entire dimension of Minecraftia."

Dawn gulped.

"I'm a player," she realized aloud, closing her book.

"Oh, for the love of Notch," Dawn stormed, shoving her book into a slot at random in her toolbelt, "why did it have to be me who was a player? I just want to be a regular mob, a simple villager!"

The teenage girl continued to rage around the clearing until she smacked facefirst into a tree. Annoyed, Dawn punched it. Obligingly, four small blocky pieces of the tree trunk plopped down onto the ground, much to Dawn's confusion.

"Wait a minute!" She yelped.

"Did I just seriously punch a tree? How did that not break my knuckles or something?!" She continued angrily.

Dawn picked up the four smaller blocky versions of the thick oak trunk when she finished ranting. She unconsciously turned them into planks, then into a wooden block with assorted tools with a 3x3 grid on top of it. Dawn then placed it down on the ground in front of her.

"What the Nether is this?" She shrieked, stumbling back.

Dawn crept forward and began to poke the block with a stick. Just then, one stick and two blocks of wooden planks ripped themselves out of her toolbelt and soared into the grid, forming a wooden sword that flew into the bewildered girl's hands.

"Cool..." Dawn mused, poking the crafting table again with her new sword.


	5. Steve

The crafting table released three glowing orbs, multiple shades of yellow and green. The orbs rolled gently across the grass, creeping up to Dawn's feet. She stepped back, but the glowing spheres casually continued rolling until they touched the toes of Dawn's feet. They were sucked into her skin with an audible sucking noise. Dawn stumbled backwards.

"Ow!" The girl cried out, ripping off her boots and massaging her toes.

Small prickles of electricity crept up Dawn's fingertips, sending a pleasing sensation up her spine. Dawn's skin tingled with anticipation, and she began to hunger for more of these strange spheres that brought her such a strange, yet pleasing feeling.

Just then, a twig snapped in the nearby undergrowth as Dawn put her boots back on. She froze and pulled her book out of her toolbelt, prepared to knock unconscious whatever came near.

"Who's there?" She murmured cautiously, rising slowly to her feet.

"Be aware, I have a hard-cover book, and I'm not afraid to use it!" She threatened, since she had no idea how to use a sword.

"Oh, for the love of Notch..." A muffled groan was heard from the other side of a nearby pine tree as a loud thud was heard.

"Stay back!" Dawn hissed, brandishing the novel at the tree.

Just then, a boy her age stepped out, rubbing a nasty bruise on his head. He had brown hair, blue eyes, blue jeans, and a blue t-shirt. His skin was tanned, and his arms were muscular. The boy also was holding a- was that diamond?! -sword. A nearby wolf sat calmly, gnawing on a bone. It had a red collar and was obviously the boy's dog.

"Oh, hi," the boy said, extending a hand, "my name is Steve. Sorry I startled you. My dog, Red, decided to be stupid and ran off. Then I hit my head on that tree, which, well, hurt. Duh. Sorry, you probably knew that walking into things would hurt..." He rambled casually.

Dawn let out a sigh of relief, lowering her book and tucking it back into her toolbelt, smiling as it shrunk into a much smaller version of itself. She shook the boy's hand gladly.

"The name's Dawn," Dawn replied, "and you probably have no idea how glad I am right now to see another human."

Steve smiled, then a confused expression appeared on his face.

"Why? Did something bad happen to your home?" He questioned Dawn.

Dawn nodded and showed Steve her copy of 'The Three Worlds.'

"This is my only possession other than my sword and the clothes on my back. My village burned down, and..." Dawn hestitated.

What would Steve say if she told him about the eyes? He might think that she was insane!

"It's okay," Steve said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "my village burnt down when I was little, so I know how that feels. It SUCKS! Anyway, I've been living on my own for quite a while. I even have my own house in the forest a little farther out. I don't mind sharing my house with you."

Dawn smiled and patted Red the wolf on the head, who had begun to lick her fingers while she waa chatting with Steve.

"That sounds great," she grinned at her new friend.

Steve's face morphed into a goofy, lopsided smile as they began to walk through the woods to Steve's house. Red followed them eagerly, his tail wagging madly.

"So what's it like, living on your own?" Dawn asked Steve.

"Well, it's kinda lonely, y'know? But I mine a lot, for diamonds, because I really want this awesome sword to last forever." Steve replied casually, showing Dawn his sword.

"I want to craft an enchanting table and get an Unbreaking enchant on this sword. Like your book, this is all I have left of my village." He continued.

Dawn smiled at Steve and noticed that they had arrived on a well-worn cobblestone path. Not too far ahead was a wooden cabin with a small fenced in garden next to it.

"That sounds awesome! In my village, there always were these miners carrying around bags of diamonds and gold, flaunting their wealth. I always wondered where they got them." She chattered happily.

Steve shook his head in disbelief, pushing open a wooden door to enter the house. He ushered Dawn inside.

"You really need to get out more," he teased, "if you don't know that diamonds and gold are found underground!"

Dawn blushed.

"Sorry, I wasn't raised by a miner. I was raised by a physician. In fact, I don't actually know how or where to mine!" She laughed.

"But I can fetch water, clean, do chores, heal injuries, and I'm quieter than a squid!" She added quickly as an afterthought.

Steve looked like he was teetering on the edge of bursting into laughter.

"You don't have to earn your keep, I already said you could stay. I would never kick anyone out in the cold if they needed my help!" He told Dawn.

"You don't have to prove anything. All I need is some company, a bit of mining help, and- Notch, if you could make food that's actually edible, I would be forever in your debt!" Steve laughed.

Dawn smiled in relief.

"That's great!" She replied, "I would love to help you!"

Steve smiled another goofy, lopsided grin.

"Well, this is my home. I suppose it's your home now, too." He gestured unceremoniously at the interior of the small cabin.

Dawn looked every which way, whipping her head around so fast that even an Enderman teleporting at top speed wouldn't be able to keep up with her. She was in complete awe of the structure, especially since it was the first human settlement she had seen in her life other than La Monte. Paintings were everywhere, almost completely covering the brick walls. A clay flowerpot with a dandelion in it was sitting on top of a furnace which was pushed against the south wall along with a crafting table. The floor was made out pine wood planks. On the opposite wall was a large chest practically overflowing with items, while the west wall had two doors. The east wall was where the front door was, along with a small fireplace and a patch of threadbare carpet covered with dog hair.

"What's through those doors?" Dawn asked, pointing to the west wall.

"The bedroom and the study," Steve replied, "Erm, by the way, I never really had company before, so, um, at the moment there's only one bed."

Dawn frowned and walked into the bedroom, which was as nicely furnished as the rest of the house, with the walls completely covered with paintings other than a small 2x2 window and a large bed that could fit two people quite easily. Then she went into the study, which had giant bookshelves taking up three out of four of the room's five by five walls. There was also a comfortable- looking couch on the remaining wall, which had a pine log as an end table that had another flowerpot with a poppy in it.

"Do you have any shears?" Dawn called to Steve from the study, "Because I could always go collect some wool for an extra bed."

Steve shook his head as Dawn walked back into the main room.

"No, it's turning to night. Sheep don't spawn at this time, plus it's dangerous. Zombies and other mobs, y'know? It's just best to stay inside at night. Plus, I'm out of iron. In the morning, we will have to go mining if we want more."

Dawn frowned.

"Well, as kind as you are to me, I don't particularily wish to sleep in the same bed as you. Not even for a night."

Steve laughed uneasily.

"Should I, erm, take the couch?"

"No, I'm the guest, I should take the couch."

"No, no, I insist. You have the bed. The couch will be fine for me."

Red whined hungrily. After such a long day, he needed to keep his strength up. But since Steve wasn't currently feeding him, the wolf came up with a plan. He crept over to the chest and pushed it open easily with his nose. Red's tail wagged as he bit down into a piece of burnt steak.

"No, Red, no! That was the last of the steak! Aw, man, and I wanted to share it with someone other than you this time too!" Steve gasped, rushing over to a contently chewing Red.

Dawn laughed out loud, her chest heaving with every breath. This was a great life to live. She could tell that she would like it here.

* * *

_Yay! I have readers! Sorry I didn't upload in forever, my computer evidently hates me. But, yeah! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, it took up three pages, so I'm hoping that it's longer than usual. Thank you all for reading about Dawn's slight noobiness, and I will see you all later! _

_Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yallsies!_


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